Halal dishes that fit your family and your lifestyle

Shopping at Costco is both exciting and overwhelming. I always worry that I’ll miss something and equally worry that I’ll buy something in my excitement for the variety and quantity that is not actually halal.

With regards to one product, my worry was replaced with delight when I was studying the cheese aisle. Which flavor should I choose for the meals I plan to create this week? Should I experiment with European varieties or stick to the American varieties I already know? Should I buy slices, blocks or cubes?

I stumbled upon a Vermont brand I’m familiar with from shopping at Trader Joe’s- it was the Cabot brand of Vermont. When I turned it over to search for the ingredients, I discovered a Halal certification symbol right next to the Kosher certification symbol. I had to blink to make sure I wasn’t just seeing what I wanted to see. Sure enough, it was real, but on only this type of cheese made by Cabot, not the other varieties at this particular Costco (Mt. Prospect, IL).

Here are the details of the cheese:

Sharp Classic Vermont Cheddar Cheese made by Cabot of Vermont. Net wt. 2 LB. Ingredients: Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes. Manufactured by Cabot Creamery, Cabot, VT 05647. http://www.cabotcheese.com/ They even have a Cabot blog! http://www.cabotblog.com/products/. It appears you cannot buy their products online, but the website does have a store locator and a host of recipes and other information about cheese that is quite thoghtful of its consumers. No wonder, it’s dairy-farmer owned, since 1919.

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are entirely based on the author's own personal tastes, which may obviously be different from others who try the same product(s). The reviewer aslo declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from a restaurant or food product company for writing any review.